iPhone 13 rumored to feature ‘refined matte back,’ always-on display, more - 9to5Mac

A new video today from EverythingApplePro on YouTube offers a series of rumors on what to expect from this year’s iPhone 13. The video cites exclusive details from prominent leaker Max Weinbach, claiming that the iPhone 13 will feature an always-on display, small design tweaks, and more.

There’s also a tidbit on the Apple Watch Series 7, with the video reporting that glucose monitoring will not be ready for this year.

The video leads by saying that while overall design changes will be minimal this year, the iPhone 13 Pro’s matte back will be “refined” so that’s texturized and “more grippy” to hold. The video explains:

“The matte back is getting refined. So in the 2021 iPhones, I’m sure Max is referring to the Pro models, they’ll have a slightly more grippy texturized back. He says they’ll be slightly more comfortable and he assumes it’ll like a soft matte, like on the Pixel series.”

The video also corroborates previous reporting that the iPhone 13 Pro will feature the same high refresh rate 120Hz ProMotion display technology as the iPad Pro. Apple will also use new LTPO technology to give the iPhone 13 Pro an always-on display, similar to what’s already available in the Apple Watch.

Weinbach explains how the feature will work:

Always-On Display will have minimal customizability. Current design basically looks like a toned down locks creen. Clock and battery charge is always visible. Notifications seem to be displayed using a bar and icons. Upon receiving, the notification will pop up normally except that the screen will not entirely light up. Instead, it will display just like you’re used to right now, except dimmed down and only temporally.

The video also claims that the iPhone 13 lineup will feature an improved ultra wide lens, going from six-piece to five-pice. The lens will reportedly still be “lower quality” than the other two lenses, but Apple is working to make improvements in this area. This was also previously reported by Ming-Chi Kuo.

Another camera improvement with the iPhone 13 will reportedly be support for Portrait Mode video, something that Apple has been working on for “quite some time” the video says. “You’ll be able to record a portrait video and change the depth of field in post,” the video explains.